Dispenser for safety razor blades



y 21, 1957 c. E. B'UTLIN 2,792,933

DISPENSER FOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES Filed Jan. 5. 1:951

INVENTOR mi iMwww ATTORNEYS United States Patent C DISPENSER FOR SAFETY RAZOR BLADES Charles E. Butlin, Plattsburg, N. Y., assignor, by mesne assignments, to American Safety Razor Corporation, Brooklyn, N. Y., a corporation of Virginia Application January 5, 1951, Serial No. 204,558 Claims. Cl. 206-16) In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the dispenser with the ejector slide retracted to its rcarmost position,

Figure 2 is a longitudinal section taken along line 2 2 of. Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a transverse section taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a front end view of the dispenser of Figure l, but showing a blade in the process of being ejected,

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the upper part of the magazine with the used blade vault removed,

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the removed vault and,

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the plate which constitutes the bottom of the magazine and the top of the vault.

The dispenser shown in these drawings comprises a magazine for a stack of blades and an ejector slide for ejecting the topmost blade of the stack. The magazine itself comprises a top 1, side walls 2 and end walls 3, all molded as a unit from any suitable plastic. The side walls 2, as shown in Figure 5, are only approximately one-half as deep as the end walls 3 and are each provided with a pair of spaced lugs 4 designed to removably secure the used blade vault. This vault, as shown in Figure 6, comprises a single sheet of metal bent into channel form to form a bottom 5 and side walls 6. These side walls are provided with longitudinal grooves 7 designed to snap over and embrace the lugs 4. The open ends of the vault are closed by means of the downwardly extending end walls 3 of the magazine.

Mounted upon the bottom 5 of the vault is a plate 8 having downwardly extending supporting flanges 9 which rest on the bottom of the vault. This plate constitutes the top of the vault and the bottom of the magazine. Two springs 10, lanced from the plate 3, are bent upwardly and serve to press a stack of blades against the underface of the top 1 of the magazine.

The underface of the top is provided with two downwardly extending spaced longitudinal guide ribs 11, the side walls with two inwardly extending guide ribs 12 and the front wall 3 with two inwardly extending guide ribs 13. The ribs 12 and 13 are designed to fit within the corner notches of the blades to hold them in vertical alignment and the ribs 11 are designed to align the topmost blade with the blade discharge slot 14. This slot is formed at the juncture of the top 1 and the front end wall 3, as shown best in Figures 2 and 5. The top tcrminates short of the front end wall and the front end wall terminates some distance below the top. The ribs 13 extend upwardly slightly beyond the upper edge of the front end wall, terminating below the bottom plane of the ribs 11 a distance greater than the thickness of one blade, but less than the thickness of two. It is this space between the upper ends of the ribs 13 and the lower faces of the ribs 11 which constitutes the efiective discharge slot. The ribs 12 and 13 being slightl tapered, as shown, exert a tunneling action on the blades so that maximum edge clearance is afforded at ejection.

The top 1 of the magazine is provided with a centrally located longitudinal slot 15. Lying below the slot and between the ribs 11 is an ejector slide 16 provided with a head 17, which extends through the slot 15 and overlies the top 1. This slide is provided, near its rear end, with a downwardly extending blade pickup step 18 pressed from the metal constituting the slide, and a transverse projection 19 pressed upwardly from the middle of the slide just in front of the blade pickup step 18. The slide normally occupies the position shown in Figure 2 at the rear end of the slot 15, the greater part of its length overlying the blades.

Contained within the magazine is a stack of blades 20 centered by means of the ribs 12 and 13. and pressed against the ribs 11 by means of the springs 1.0, as shown best in Figure 2. The topmost blade is thusin alignment with the blade discharge slot 14, and may be ejected from the magazine as follows: The thickness of the slide 16 being substantially the depth of the ribs 11, it lies between those ribs and overlies the topmost blade. The blade pickup step 18 however, projecting below the lower face of the slide a distance less than the thickness of one blade will engage the topmost blade when the slide is moved forward. In order to facilitate that removal and to avoid the necessity of accurate machine work I have provided the projection 19 previously described. This projection bearing against the underface of the top 1 tilts the slide 16 downwardly and rearwardly, as shown in somewhat exaggerated form in Figure 2. This, in turn, slightly depresses the rear end of the blade stack 20 and facilitates the engagement of the blade pickup step 18 with the rear end of the topmost blade. Movement of the slide toward the front of the magazine causes the topmost blade to move forward through the exit slot. At the same time the downward pressure on the stack occasioned by the effective backward taper of the pus-her, due to the action of the projection 19, causes the emerging blade to be slightly warped, as shown in somewhat exaggerated form in Figure 4. This action tends to hold the blade firmly in position until it is withdrawn by the user.

When a blade has become dull and is to be discarded, it is removed from the razor and inserted into the used blade vault through a transverse slot 21 in the bottom 5. A sharp new blade is thereupon ejected by proper manipulation of the slide 16. The vault will hold the entire complement of blades originally loaded in the magazine so that when the magazine is emptied the vault is full. It can then be removed from the magazine by springing the side walls 6 to free the grooves 7 from the lugs 4, and the used blades can be properly disposed of. The magazine may then be re-loaded with a stack of sharp blades and the plate 8 and the vault returned to position.

I claim:

1. A dispenser for safety razor blades comprising a generally rectangular new blade containing upper chamber member having a top wall, depending from, rear and side walls, and an open bottom, said front wall having a discharge mouth at substantially its juncture with the top wall and said front and rear walls being each substantially twice as deep as said side walls, a vault for used Patented May 21, 1957- blades comprising a used-blade containing lower chamber 'upper member and the top of thelowermember, said' partition member comprising asheet metal platehaving integral spring finger means projecting upwardly into the upper chamber member for yieldabl-y supportinga stack of new bladestherein for sequential discharge through the frontwall rnouth-ofsaid-member and having flanges depending'frornits opposite side edges with the free edges of said fianges supported -by the lower member and the side margins of the'partition' memberat thejuncture of member; said means comprising cooperating lugs and slots formed respectively on the juxtaposed surfaces of the side walls of the two "chamber members.

2. A dispenser asset forth in claim 1 wherein the upper chamber member is madeof molded plastic and includes integral spaced ribs for aligning'and guiding blades in said chamber.

3. A dispenser as set forth in claim 1 wherein the bottom wall of the lower chamber member is slotted at one end portion for admission of used blades.

4; A dispenser as set forth in c1aim 1 in which the fiangesof the partition memberare seatedon the bottom wall of the*lower'member.

5. A dispenser as'set forth in claim 1 wherein portions of the front and rear edges of the lower member extend beneaththe front and.rear.wa1ls respectively oitheupper member and are engaged therewith.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 930,429 Stephan Aug. 10, 1909 1,701,709 Ostrander Feb. 12,1929 1,797,733 Schick Mar. 24, 1931 1,973,867 Cook -.Sept.. 18;. 19 314 2,054,080 Haynes Sept; 15', 1936 2,055,493 Hothersall Sept. 29', 1936 2,082,440 Benjamin June 1, 1937 2,321,570 Billing June 15, 1943 2,350,837 Stampleman et a1. June 6, 1944 2,355,181 Reyburn Aug. 8, 1944 2,418,495 Auerbach Apr. 8, 1947 2,424,593 T esti July 29, 1947 2,436,025 Steinb'ach Feb. 17, 1948 2,439,243 Dalkowitz Apr. 6, 1948 2,502,248 ColtOn et a1. Mar. 28, 1950 2,514,161 Nelson July 4, 1950 2,542,510 Gray Feb. 20,. 1951' 2,557,323 Testi June 19, 1951 2,562,513 Schnitzler July 31, 1951' 2,566,016 Cochran Aug. 28, 1951' 2,589,722 Mead Mar. 18, 1952 2,601,601 Fennelly June 24, 1952 2,604,979 Roberts July 29, 1952 2,692,674 Shnitzler Oct. 26,1954 

